When Ron, Taylor and Kobe Johnson took their Tailgate N Go portable kitchens on the road to different trade shows, they would regularly hear that they should try out for the reality show "Shark Tank." Upon hearing the familiar sentiment at a recent show in Flagstaff, Arizona, they had to laugh. At the time, the Grand Junction family was just about to tape an episode of the popular ABC TV show and pitch their product to the five millionaire and billionaire business tycoons, in hopes of securing an investment. That filming occurred in June and the episode airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on Channel 8, KJCT. The Johnsons tried out for the show at a casting event in Palm Springs,...

Once upon a time, Ron Johnson would go on camping trips with his children, Taylor and Kobe, that were anything but organized. They’d pack their gear into totes. The clutter on the top of the picnic table left little room to prepare meals. Worse still, essentials were invariably forgotten and left behind, whether that was condiments, seasonings or utensils. Not anymore. Now the Johnsons are really cooking — not only on their camping trips, but also with Tailgate N Go and the Grand Junction-based business they’ve developed. Ron figured there had to be a better way to organize camp cooking and recalled the chuck boxes his father used to store gear. What Ron and his children ultimately developed, though, is...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Making outdoor cooking a little easier: that's what the invention of a local family aims to do, and its getting quite a bit of national attention.The Johnson family had an idea while camping."We're going to unpack to cook hamburgers and we realize that I had forgot a spatula, salt, we had this much oil..." Taylor Johnson begins.They created a portable outdoor kitchen."Just from that experience we realized—well, my dad looking at me—he realized, 'Where's your truck box? Where's your box with all the dry goods in it for camping?'" Taylor says.They call it Tailgate n Go, a product with hometown roots."We're a 100% Colorado company. We do everything here in house and we do everything...